# 4: Quartet (1981)

Maggie Smith

as Lois Heidler

in

Quartet (1981)

Screentime: 25 minutes and 0 seconds (25.5% of the film)

Quartet is a pre-A Room with a View Mechant-Ivory production that is set in 1920s Paris where four individuals become involved in a rather unorthodox manner; Marya (Isabella Adjani) is recently dealing with her husband Stefan (Anthony Higgins) being sentenced to imprisonment when a middle aged high society couple H.J and Lois Heidler (Alan Bates and Maggie Smith) decide to help her and let her in a guest in their home. Infidelity eventuates and Marya is torn between her strange yet new extravagant life and the old one sitting in a tiny prison cell. 

The general look and production design is fantastic, and the era costumes worn by the principles are equally as impressive. Also Isabelle Adjani gives a great leading performance and won the Best Actress award at the Cannes film festival. The progression of the story however is rather limited and stale, but I feel a rather specific taste in film/storytelling is required for viewing Merchant-Ivory films.

FILM:

This was Maggie’s follow up role after her second Oscar win, and she was nominated for a BAFTA and she gives quite a wonderful supporting role. Lois is a rather tragic character that develops a strong maternal attachment to Adjani’s character, while she quite disturbingly accepts her husband’s philandering with her.  I might add Maggie looked incredibly photogenic and beautiful in the film. I also feel if distribution was better at the time or more money was behind the film, Adjani (who was particularly brilliant in the film's 10 minute finale) and Smith could have gotten Oscar nominations for their performances.

MAGGIE METER:




"I hate people who try to get by with nothing but their sensitivity."